AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

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Consider Siddhartha’s relationship with Govinda. How are they similar, and how are they different? What are the narrative functions of Govinda’s reappearance throughout the novel? How does their relationship impact the novel’s ending?
I do not remember Govinda well enough to throughly answer this question, but I do know that he was Siddhartha's best friend and would differ from Siddhartha in that he was a follower and never reached nirvana, while Siddhartha reached nirvana by going off by himself.  Obviously, this question shows that you need to understand passages on many levels, not just comprehension ones.

What purpose does self-denial serve in Siddhartha? What about self-indulgence? 
Self denial and self indulgance are both negative and positive separately in this novel, because denying yourself luxuries leads you to not need them, but you should not deny them, you should simply not want them, and self indulgence is important, because when you are in nirvana, you will not need to indulge, but you do need to experience life with and without self indulgence in order to get there.  This question shows that you need to connect topics to your knowledge, and to pay attention to themes in the novel.

If you were the river, would you be enlightenment or would you know enlightenment? In other words, what’s up with the river? What is it’s relation to enlightenment?
The river is what allows Siddhartha to connect to the universe on a much deeper level, because it allows him to connect his life with what he sees in the universe.  Obviously, look for and understand symbolism.


What does enlightenment look like in Siddhartha? Is it a feeling? An attitude?
To Siddhartha, enlightenment is being completely content with the world, no matter what its trials are, as he understands the cosmos on a deeper level.  It is neither a feeling or an attitude, but a state of being.  This shows the importance of thinking about character's emotions and the meanings of occurrences in passages on a deeper level.

Does verbal communication play a positive role in the spiritual progression of characters in Siddhartha?
I do not remember the book to this specifity, but I know that Siddhartha needs to fully understand the world to reach enlightenment, and he learns much about the world around him from talking to many people.  I feel that experience is much more important though.  This tells us that we must pay attention to what moves passages along, and what small things in writings are truly important.